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Thread: pH altering properties of substrates

  1. #1
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    pH altering properties of substrates

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    Hi Guys,

    I couldn't get any new cryptocorynes to experiment on recently so decided to test the pH altering properties of some of the substrates I am currently using for growing my cryptocorynes.

    Distilled water (Polar brand & Life brand) was used to partially fill up tupperwares in which the substrate are added. The pH of just the distilled water measured about 6.6.



    In one of the tuppeware I added about 100ml of distilled water + 0.3ml of Ocean Free Super Black Water (recommended amount is 1ml to 6L, overall I added about 0.6ml to 100ml which works out to be > 30 times the recommended amount) and measured the pH at about 6.6. i added another 0.3ml of black water extract into the tupperware and measured the pH again at about 6.6. I concluded that the black water extract I added did not have much effects on altering the pH of the water.



    In the tupperwares I added (from left to right) GEX (light green packaging), used ADA amazonia + aficana (50%:50%), Kanuma, Kotobuki Dr Soil and Horti Moss. I will add more tupperwares and substrates and will keep you guys informed of the pH measured next week.



    pH test is conducted using Zoolek Aquatest pH x 2 (4.5 - 9.0 and 6.0 - 8.0). If you have done such pH test before, do share your findings here too!
    Thanks!

    Regards,
    T S Wang
    Bored...

  2. #2
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    this is an interesting experiment!!! will look forward to the results!!!
    from flying planes, to planting underwater plants

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    Added more substrates to test:

    Horti brand soil, Lapis sand with coral chips, Sphagnum moss from Japan (from left to right)


    Akadama soil, lapis sand, Muji brand substrate (from left to right)

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    First batch of results (after 1 week) is out (subjected to wrong interpretation of colour results of the pH test!!):

    The following substrates did not affect the pH of the water much:
    1) GEX (light green packaging): pH 6.6
    2) Kanuma soil: pH 6.4 - 6.5
    3) Kotobuki Dr Soil: pH 6.5 - 6.6
    4) used ADA amazonia + aficana (50%:50%): pH 6.2 - 6.3

    The clear winner is Horti Moss which lowered the pH of the water to around 4 to 4.5.

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    Nice experiment and interesting results you got there !

    Maybe u can do a test on the ph altering properties of ketapang leaves? Does oceanfree use ketapang leaves to make their blackwater extract?

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    Your wish is my command. Luckily I am staying along Jurong East Ave 1 which is lined with Ketapang trees. I collected a dried leaf just now, soaked it in boiling water first before placing it in the tupperware with distilled water.



    I have tried using these leaves in my emersed crytocoryne tank before to lower the pH but did not find it to be effective. However, I will keep you updated of the result next week.

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    illumbomb you are the man~
    from flying planes, to planting underwater plants

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    wow... thanks for doing the test man !!! waiting anxiously for the results !!!

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    Next batch of results after 1 week of soaking:

    1) Horti brand soil: pH of about 4.5
    2) Lapis sand with coral chips: pH 8.0
    3) Sphagnum moss from Japan: pH of about 5.0
    4) Akadama soil: pH 6.6
    5) Lapis sand: pH 7.8
    6) Muji brand substrate: pH 7.4

    The winner for this week is Ketapang Leaf (after 4 days only): pH of say about 4? (difficult to judge as the water is badly tinted by the leaf already).
    Last edited by illumbomb; 11th Jul 2008 at 07:31.

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    Did a remeasurement for the below after the 2nd week:

    1) GEX (light green packaging): pH 6.6
    2) Kanuma soil: pH 6.6
    3) Kotobuki brand Dr Soil: pH 6.6
    4) used ADA amazonia + aficana (50%:50%): pH 6.3
    5) Horti brand Peat Moss: pH 4 to 4.5

    Results are similar to the previous week so I think the pH level for such test should be stabilised after 1 week so there is no need to further monitor.

    If you have any new substrates in mind, do conduct similar tests and let us know the results here.

    What shocked me more was my main emersed tank's water pH level. It has close to pH 4.5 up to 2 weeks ago when I last measured (I previously soaked peat most inside it). It used to house only 1 betta and 4 boraras with light feeding done for the last 2 months. Last week, I introduced 4 more fishes (1 betta, 2 croaking gourami, 1 Aplocheilus panchax) which I caught during my field trip and started to feed a lot more. Guess what was the pH when I measured it today? 6.0!!!!!!!

    So pals, for those who wishes to have a low stable pH in your emersed cryptocoryne tank, think twice before adding fishes! I will monitor my cryptocoryne's growth condition (anyway, those cryptocorynes I currently have do not really need extrememly low ph) and the pH level before deciding whether I should take action to reduce the pH again......

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    Grand Summary Table

    Substrate tested so far:

    01. plain distilled water: pH 6.6
    02. GEX (light green packaging): pH 6.6
    03. Kanuma soil: pH 6.4 - 6.5
    04. 'Kotobuki' brand Dr Soil substrate: pH 6.5 - 6.6
    05. used 'ADA' brand Amazonia + Aficana (50%:50%): pH 6.2 - 6.3
    06. 'Horti' brand peat moss: pH 4.0 - 4.5
    07. 'Horti' brand soil: pH 4.5
    08. Lapis sand with coral chips: pH 8.0
    09. Sphagnum moss from Japan (don't bother using low grade ones): pH 5.0
    10. Akadama soil: pH 6.6
    11. Lapis sand: pH 7.8
    12. 'Muji' brand substrate: pH 7.4
    13. Ketapang Leaf: pH <4.0
    14. 'Aquamedi' brand Black Peat Granules: pH 4.0 - 4.5
    15. Ocean Free brand Super Pro-Peat Granules: pH 4.0 - 4.5
    16. Garden soil 'burnt soil': pH 8.0
    17. ADA Amazonia II: pH 6.2
    18. Volcanic rock: pH 7.2
    19. First Layer Pure Laterite: pH 6.8
    20. used ADA Amazonia: pH 6.8
    21. SUDO Medaka Pink Sand: pH => 8.0
    22. SUDO Crystal Orange Sand: pH 7.4
    23. SUDO Real Brown Sand: pH 7.8
    24. SUDO Bottom Sand: pH 7.2
    25. used ADA Amazonia mixed with lapis sand: pH 7.0
    26. live sphagnam moss: pH 5 to 5.5
    27. used ADA africana: pH 6.2 - 6.4
    28. coconut hust: pH 7.0
    29. magic soil: pH 6.4
    30. lawn sand: pH 7.0

    To summarise the results in accending order of pH value (by 0.5):

    pH 4.0: 'Horti' brand peat moss, dried ketapang leaves (will cause discolouration of water readily),'Aquamedi' brand Black Peat Granules, Ocean Free brand Super Pro-Peat Granules
    pH 4.5: 'Horti' brand soil
    pH 5.0: Sphagnum moss from Japan (don't bother using low grade ones), live aphagnam moss
    pH 5.5: no suggestion so far
    pH 6.0: ADA Amazonia II
    pH 6.5: GEX (light green packaging), Kanuma soil, 'Kotobuki' brand Dr Soil substrate, Akadama soil, distilled water, used ADA africana, magic soil
    pH 7.0: Volcanic rock, First Layer Pure Laterite, used ADA Amazonia, SUDO Bottom Sand, used ADA Amazonia mixed with lapis sand, coconut husk, lawn sand
    pH 7.5: 'Muji' brand substrate, SUDO Crystal Orange Sand
    pH 8.0: Lapis sand, Garden soil 'burnt soil', SUDO Medaka Pink Sand, SUDO Real Brown Sand

    Note: Bottled distilled water of pH about 6.6 is used for all the above test.

    Hope that the results above will prove to be helpful in the process of selecting the substrates to be used as potting mix as well as to condition the pH of the water for emersed cryptocoryne cultivation. Cheers!
    Last edited by illumbomb; 20th Dec 2009 at 22:06. Reason: updated as and when new substrates are tested

  12. #12
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    thanks for spending your time to do such informative experiment illumbomb!!!
    from flying planes, to planting underwater plants

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    very informative
    thanks for taking the time to provide us with a detailed experiment!

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    Hi Illumbomb,

    Can you advise what did you get the Horti brand soil and peat moss?

    I tried on the Horti Moss used for planting and the ammonia is very high. Leave it sock for 2 weeks with regular water change but still cannot get rid of the ammonia. Thus decided to stop.
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    Hi Taygu,

    Horti Moss is the Horti "peat moss" that I was referring to. How high was the ammonia level you measured? I used them in my emersed cryptocoryne tank with some wild betta, gourami, boraras inside and they are still surviving.

    Horti Soil can be bought from NTUC too but they run out of stock quite regularly. If you can't find them in NTUC, you can give those nurseries at Thomson area a try.

    Regards,
    T S Wang

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    Hi TS,

    Thanks for the reply and the information. Sorry, I cannot remember the level as one I saw that it is yellow in colour ( clear for o ppm), I just pour it away and did not bother to check the level.
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    Regards, Joe.

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    I ran the same test on low grade sphagnum moss (those $5 per big pack ones) and concluded that their pH lowering property are not as good as those I bought back from Japan. After 2 weeks of soaking in distilled bottled water, the pH was still something like 6.4 as compared to 5 obtained using Japan sphagnum moss.

    I also placed some live java moss into one of the tupperware and ran the same test. Perhaps I did not put enough of these mosses inside as the pH level obtained was 6.6 - 6.8, close to that of the original distilled water. I have read elsewhere that pH obtained could be even lower than 4 using such live moss. Maybe I will need to buy and add in more live moss.

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    Hi,

    I have Taiwan moss and flame moss to spare for you to run the test, do let me know..
    ________________________
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    Regards, Joe.

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    Just did the same experiment on "Garden Soil" (The lady who sold it to me for $2 a packet told me it is burnt soil from Indonesia), this soil has bits of charcoal like material mixed in it and is brownish in colour.

    After 1st week: pH of around 8.0.

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    The winner for this week is Ketapang Leaf (after 4 days only): pH of say about 4? (difficult to judge as the water is badly tinted by the leaf already).
    How many pcs of Ketapang leaves, we must put in order for the water to drop till 4? Let's say a 2ft tank?
    Cheers,
    http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...c/progress.gif"Ben"http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...c/progress.gif
    Life is all about patience & perseverance,
    Failure is just another new beginning

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